When Professor Malcolm received the roster the Pioneer Legion had compiled for the fifty thousand aid workers, Murphy, far away in Scarlet Keep, got a notification that his territory's population had reached 56,843.
It put the Governor in an exceptionally good mood. Not only did he have 568 more player slots to distribute, but this influx of people had pushed Transia's registered population past 180,000. His goal of 200,000 for the "Hundred-Day Construction Drive" was now within reach.
And according to the administrative office's statistics, given the little players' current pace of searching for refugees, Murphy was confident that his territory might actually exceed 300,000 people by the time the Hundred-Day Construction Drive ended. It had only just passed the one-third mark.
A goal that had once seemed impossibly distant was suddenly close at hand, and Lord Murphy couldn't help feeling a little giddy.
He'd taken over the mess that was Transia, and in just two and a half months, he'd turned the territory into a thriving place. Could he really be the legendary "genius ruler"?
"However, these fifty thousand people are a liability!"
Mirian's stern voice snapped Murphy out of his daydream. He turned gracefully to face everyone in the meeting room behind him.
With the exception of the senior military officers, almost every mid- and high-ranking official in Scarlet Keep's ruling administration was there.
As governor, Mirian was giving her subordinates a talking-to.
She stood at the lectern, gripping a straight wooden stick—the sort that would make any boy's heart leap—and pointed it at the map of Transia hanging behind her. Addressing the administrators seated below with notebooks in hand, she said:
"The Plantagenet Kingdom has sent us the manpower we need most right now, but there's no hiding their ulterior motives.
"If these fifty thousand people aren't